United States of Europe
The United States of Europe (USE)Google Translate renders the phrase into German as Vereinigten Staaten von Europa. That style is not used in the series, but it is not clear if that is for the benefit of English-speaking readers, or if it is an in-universe concession to up-timer sensibilities. was a federation formed in November 1633 from the Confederated Principalities of Europe (CPoE), which was composed of many of the roughly 1800 German political units of the Holy Roman Empire of the 1630s. It was founded by several late 20th century-early 21st century Americans who were displaced into mid-seventeenth century Europe due to an incident involving an Assiti Shard. They based the structure of the USE loosely on the United States Constitution, taking 17th century politics into account, and heavily based the government on the British-style parliamentary system. One difference from that model is that the upper house of the Parliament consisted of the state/provincial governors and the mayors (or equivalents) of the imperial cities. A peculiar side-effect of this was that, since Gustavus Adolphus had made himself Duke of Mecklenburg and Duke of Pomerania, he had two votes in the upper house. While the nation was styled "United States", it appeared that only the State of Thuringia-Franconia and (later) the state of Tyrol actually styled themselves as "states". The capital of the USE was Magdeburg. The first Prime Minister of the USE was Michael Stearns. The first, and so far only, Emperor of the USE was Gustavus Adolphus. Provinces The USE was composed of several provinces and imperial cities. The imperial cities were effectively city-states, and functioned as provinces. Not all provinces were completely self-governing. Fully self-governing 'Brunswick' *'Head of state:' Duke George of Brunswick-Lüneburg; managed in his absence by Loring Schultz 'Hesse-Kassel' *'Capital:' Kassel *'Heads of state:' Landgrave William V and Landgravine Amalie Elisabeth 'Madgeburg' *'Capital:' Magdeburg (city) *'Head of state:' Governor Matthias Strigel (elected) *Separate from the imperial city of Madgeburg. 'State of Thuringia-Franconia' *'Capital:' Initially Grantville, moved to Bamberg in 1635. *'Head of state:' President Ed Piazza (elected) [[County of Tyrol|'Tyrol']] *'Capital:' Bolzano *Voluntarily entered the USE in mid-1635, following negotiations between Claudia de' Medici and the USE government. *Ruled by a regency council, acting for Claudia's minor sons. Self-governing, but with imperially appointed governors 'Mecklenburg' *'Capital:' Schwerin *'Head of state:' Gustavus Adolphus, in his capacity as Duke of Mecklenburg. 'Upper Rhine' *'Head of state:' Wilhelm Ludwig of Nassau-Saarbrücken 'Westphalia' *'Head of state:' Prince Frederik of Denmark Under imperial administration These provinces still elect members of the House of Commons. 'Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate)' *'Capital:' Amberg *'Administrator:' (until September 1635) Ernst Wettin; (after September 1635) Christian I of Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler 'Pomerania' *Directly ruled by Gustavus Adolphus, in his capacity as Duke of Pomerania. *As of July 1635, Pomerania was technically self-governing, but effectively ruled by direct imperial fiat. 'Province of the Main' *'Capital:' Mainz *'Administrator:' Nils Brahe Imperial cities *Augsburg *Frankfurt am Main *Hamburg *Luebeck *Magdeburg *Strassburg *Ulm Special cases 'Brandenburg' and Saxony *As of July 1635, these areas were effectively outside the USE. Whether they were officially part of it depended on whether one asked Gustavus or George William and John George. *After September of 1635, George William had fled and John George was dead, and both areas were assimilated into the USE. Ernst Wettin was appointed as administrator of Saxony. Brandenburg's capital, Berlin, was the center of Axel Oxenstierna's attempted coup. As of March 1636, its status was uncertain. 'Swabia' *As of July 1635, Swabia was still under direct imperial administration, and the projected "Province of Swabia" had not yet come into being. Foreign Policy The foreign policy of the USE was predicated on the goal of spreading American-style democracy in Europe. Its primary enemy was the League of Ostend, consisting of Spain (which had been the current enemy of the Protestant German states), France, England, and Denmark. All these countries saw the U.S.E. as a political threat to their national interests. The conflict with the League of Ostend lasted more than a year from 1633 to 1634 when Denmark was defeated and formed, with Sweden, a new Union of Kalmar; and Cardinal Don Fernando severed his connection with Spain, became king in the Netherlands, and established peace between his kingdom and the U.S.E. A ceasefire was declared between France and the U.S.E. while a weakened Spain continues its warring interests. Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria developed a very antagonistic relationship towards the U.S.E. following the death of his wife Elizabeth Renata, and threatened to kill any U.S.E. nationals entering Bavaria. By 1635, with the destruction of the League of Ostend, the USE annexed (or re-incorporated, depending on one's POV) Brandenburg and Saxony, and invaded the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. State of the Nation After Gustavus Adolphus was injured at the Battle of Lake Bledno, the USE experienced a conflict between reactionary forces loyal to Axel Oxenstierna (1632), and liberal and loyalist forces such as the Committees of Correspondence and the Fourth of July Party. This was not a true civil war, as there were no armed clashes outside of Mecklenburg and Saxony. It was essentially a political conflict, with Oxenstierna's opponents "fighting" by presenting themselves as legitimate. By 1636, the United States of Europe has become the dominant economic, scientific, and industrial power in Europe. Flag The flag of the U.S.E. is the St. Andrews cross, which had been the basis of the Scottish and other European flags for generations. The cross is black on a red field, and contains individual gold stars representing the states of the USE. In the center, there is a version of the lesser coat of arms of Sweden, with the blue replaced by black. The flag strongly resembles the American Southern Cross, but with the colors historically representing German nationality. However, some American up-timers had mixed feelings when seeing a flag visibly modeled after the Southern Cross, which often symbolized white supremacy. Notes Category:Countries Category:1632 series